Thursday, January 3, 2013

Fashion's Young Guns

Nineties modelling icon Stella Tennant plays the role of matriarch alongside new faces Ondria Hardin and Yumi Lambert for Chanel's Spring/Summer 2013 campaign. Hardin and Lambert barely qualified for a berth at the Spring/Summer 2013 collections having both recently turned 16. The CFDA's new Health Initiative guidelines discourage the use of models under the age of 16 throughout the show season. Lambert's unique mix of Japanese and Belgian ancestry made for a compelling runway presence during her debut season at Prada, Fendi, Miu Miu, Missoni, Chanel, and Emilio Pucci amongst others. North Carolina native Hardin career has been steadily on the boil since hitting the headlines during the Fall/Winter 2011 shows when Marc Jacobs flouted the CFDA's directives by allowing Hardin to appear in his show at the age of 14. Marc Jacobs addressed the issue in the New York Times by stating emphatically, "If their parents are willing to let them do a show, I don't see any reason that it should be me who tells them that they can't." Hardin has since graced the pages of W, V Magazine, Vogue China and Teen Vogue as well as featuring in the line-up for Prada's Fall/Winter 2011 campaign. When quizzed by WWD at the time of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2013 campaign shoot as to the controversy surrounding Hardin's age, Lagerfeld retorted, "(Hardin) doesn't look 15. She looks 18 or 19."